A Proper Goodbye
by oOspuffy4everOo
Summary: He got to see her one last time.But that was different,that was before him,before them.Now he is different.The TARDIS knows all that could and should have been.the Doctor gets one more chance to say goodbye.Rose/10 *minor* Rose/11. post EoT part II.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I dont own Doctor Who or any of its characters. Sadly. And I cant see Series 5 till it comes out on DVD 'cause I dont get BBC America on my TV :( ...

Authors Notes:

Note the first… I speak American, so sorry if I mess up colloquialisms, etc.

Note the second… Tennant was my doctor & I am a Rose/10 shipper, and I am stranded in my house as there is 4 feet of snow outside my door, allowing lectures to be cancelled, and me to write fanfic for the first time in about 6 years. I don't know anything about the 11th Doctor & this is my first Dr Who fic.

Now onto the point. Summary: OneShot. Set shortly after 10 regenerates into 11. He got to see her one last time. But that was different, that was before him, before them. Now he is different. The TARDIS lives, and she knows all that could and should have been. But no one can erase what just happened, so, the Doctor gets one more chance to say goodbye, properly.

* * *

"Bloody—" The Doctor swore under his breath as he reached for a control on the TARDIS.

_Got to get used to the shorter arms_.

He had only been in this form for a few days, and one thing he did notice is that he had lost a couple inches vertically. Just then the TARDIS lurched sideways and threw him to the ground, the controls going crazy… a little too crazy.

"Whats wrong girl, talk to me." He stood back up to the panel, but the second he reached for a control he got thrown back to the ground. The TARDIS calmed down and seemed to come to a rest. Leaving the Doctor clueless as to where, or when, he was.

"Lets see whats behind door number on—Cardiff???" The second he opened the door, the familiar Water tower was right in front of him. With the familiar street, and the bay, and the zepp—

"WHAT?" He heard the TARDIS start to leave and ran back to her.

"No, please, let me stay, please!"

Too late, she was leaving. He slouched down next to the centre console and put his head in his hands. A second later the TARDIS came to a stop and he stepped outside. London. But not his London, not the right one…. This was _her_ London. And he was outside of an apartment complex, but nothing familiar. It was a middle class, typical apartment building. But nothing was typical about this building.

At least not this building at this time. Because as he walked around the corner, a woman walked out of one of the doors. He couldn't see her face, but he could see her hair, blonde, a little longer than he was used to. But it was her. It had to be. He closed his eyes and concentrated. One girl, in all the world, in all the universe, in all of time, he needed to know. It hit him like a solar flare, her eyes, her smile, her scent, it was intoxicating, and strong. Much stronger than before, it had to be her. He walked towards her.

_What are you going to say? Turn around. Right now. This shouldn't be happening. Hey, you aren't turning around. You don't even have a plan! Since when did you ever have a plan though, its not like theres a big red button or anything. You look different, you are different, who knows how long its been here. She could have already forgotten you, moved on, just—_

"Oh shut it!" the Doctor yelled at himself.

"Sorry, I was just talking to my mum." She was standing there, with her mobile in her hand. Looking extremely pissed.

_Way to go._

"Do I know you? You seem… familiar." She was trying to look at his face, but he wouldn't look up from his feet.

_Say something. You've traveled time and space, fought the Daleks and the Cybermen, lived 10 lives and you get tongue-tied over a girl, a simple human girl._

He looked up, and caught her eyes. She was figuring it out, she didn't know she knew. But he could tell.

"All of time and space and she always seems to bring me to you, Rose Tyler."

She dropped the bag she was carrying and threw her hands over her mouth. And it felt like she was right back at Bad Wolf Bay.

"You..."

"Regenerated"

"When?"

"A few days ago…" Her face was blank and her eyes watery. "Can we talk?"

"Uh, yeah, where do you—"

"TARDIS?"

"Yeah, that's… yeah." She walked next to him the short distance to the TARDIS and stared as he unlocked the door. They stepped inside. He walked over to the center console and leaned against it as Rose took a seat across from him on the chair. They were both silent.

"How did you get here."

"She, the TARDIS, I don't know how, but, she brought me here. I just stepped out and there you were, right in front of me." It was quiet again.

"I didn't get to say goodbye. I didn't get to see you before—"

"You did. Actually. You probably don't remember it. I couldn't get here, so I went back in time, before we met. Right before we met. You were the last one to see me before I changed. New years day, 2005. You were walking home with your mum. You were the last person I saw through those eyes. You smiled at me, and, and…"

"Oh my—" Rose's eyes opened wider and a stray tear went down her cheek. The memory, so far gone, so seemingly unimportant, but it was still there.

"I saved the world, I saved time itself. And I was angry, angry that all I got was just that minute to say goodbye to you. And now, I am not him anymore. I am still me, but that man that I was, he died. I have his memories and I am basically the same, but just ever so slightly different." The Doctor looked up, trying to find the right words to say.

"This is it. This is my proper goodbye. And I wanted to tell you. I…" He fell silent.

"Doctor. Its me, I am still me. Same Rose Tyler you saved from the living plastic, same girl that you took to the end of the universe and back again."

"But you're not." He looked up, she was hurt.

"You aren't a girl, Rose Tyler, you are so much more. Nine centuries I have lived. I traveled so many places, so many times, with people just like you to come with me. But here's the thing, they weren't just like you. You were different Rose. And the man I was before who I am now. He loved you."

Rose was trying to hold back her tears, but she couldn't. And they now flowed freely down her face as she stared at the man in front of her.

"So much that he couldn't bear to tell you, because that would make it real, that would make losing you that much harder. He would have died for you a thousand times over. He will always love you. I will always love you."

The TARDIS hummed back to life, it was time to go. That which was needed to be said had finally made its way to the right audience.

"Time to go." The Doctor wiped a tear off his face before looking back at Rose, who had stood from her seat. Still silent, and absorbing what had just been said. He walked her down to the door. They turned to face each other. Rose raised her hand and ran her fingers through his hair.

"Still not ginger." She said. He laughed. He put his hands on either side of her face and brushed away the tears with his thumbs.

"I will find you again Rose. I only have one life left after this. And I don't want to be with anyone else when that day finally comes. I am going to miss you." He kissed her forehead, and looked into her eyes. Then leaned down and kissed her. For the first, and most likely, last time.

"I love you." She said.

"Stay safe." His hands dropped from her face as she turned to walk out the door. He watched as she walked away and kept the door open until the last possible moment.

Rose kept walking, tears streaming down her face, until the sound she had come to recognize had faded. She looked back at the empty spot of concrete, and closed her eyes and smiled.

* * *

The End! its short and to the point. sorry again if I messed up the language any, hope you enjoyed it & review if you have suggestions comments, hopefully no concerns...


	2. Authors Note

A/N: I know that technically the two of them had kissed before, but the first time Rose was all Bad Wolf-y and didn't remember, and the second time it was Cassandra, not Rose. And I don't count the 10.5 kiss…

Also, this is a One-shot. No more chapters to come… sorry! My life is consumed by school and work.


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